Afghanistan News

Afghan
War Leaks Expose Costly Folly 7/26/2010 Consortium News: "Perhaps the
most explosive revelations disclose the double game being played by the
Pakistani Directorate for Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Der Spiegel
reported: “The documents clearly show that this Pakistani intelligence
agency is the most important accomplice the Taliban has outside of
Afghanistan.” The documents also show ISI envoys not only are present when
insurgent commanders hold war councils, but also give specific orders to
carry out assassinations — including, according to one report, an attempt on
the life of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in August 2008. Former Pakistani
intelligence chief, Gen. Hamid Gul, is depicted as an important source of
aid to the Taliban, and even, in another report, as a “leader” of the
insurgents. The reports show Gul ordering suicide attacks, and describe him
as one of the most important suppliers of weaponry to the Talban. Though the
Pakistani government has angrily denied U.S. government complaints about Gul
and the ISI regarding secret ties to the Taliban and even to al-Qaeda, the
new evidence must raise questions about what the Pakistanis have been doing
with the billions of dollars that Washington has given them?"

How
Bush Botched the Afghan War 7/26/2010 Consortium News: " As their
internal assessment sank in, the CIA analysts drifted into silence, troubled
by the implications of their own conclusions. “An ocean of hard truths
before them – such as what did it say about U.S. policies that bin Laden
would want Bush reelected – remained untouched,” Suskind wrote. If helping
Bush was bin Laden’s intent, the strategy appeared to work. Two last-minute
polls showed Bush moving from a virtual dead heat with Sen. John Kerry, the
Democratic nominee, to about a five percentage point lead. Bush then hung on
to win by an official margin of less than three points."

The last post: McChrystal's bleak outlook 6/27/2010 Independent: "Sacked
US General Stanley McChrystal issued a devastatingly critical assessment of
the war against a "resilient and growing insurgency" just days before being
forced out."

The Runaway General 6/22/2010 Rolling Stone: "Whatever the nature of the
new plan, the delay underscores the fundamental flaws of counterinsurgency.
After nine years of war, the Taliban simply remains too strongly entrenched
for the U.S. military to openly attack. The very people that COIN seeks to
win over – the Afghan people – do not want us there. Our supposed ally,
President Karzai, used his influence to delay the offensive, and the massive
influx of aid championed by McChrystal is likely only to make things worse.
"Throwing money at the problem exacerbates the problem," says Andrew Wilder,
an expert at Tufts University who has s?udied the effect of aid in southern
Afghanistan. "A tsunami of cash fuels corruption, delegitimizes the
government and creates an environment where we're picking winners and
losers" - a process that fuels resentment and hostility among the civilian
population. So far, counterinsurgency has succeeded only in creating a
never-ending demand for the primary product supplied by the military:
perpetual war."

The Pentagon’s Afghan Mineral Hype 6/14/2010 Unsilent Generation: "This
morning’s New York Times includes a story headlined, ”US Identifies Vast
Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan.’’ In fact the country’s mineral wealth
has been known for centuries. Records of it date back to the time of Marco
Polo. Mineral stories were mapped by the Soviets during their occupation of
the country, and more recently by other mining experts. While it’s possible
that the team of Pentagon officials and American geologists credited with
the “discovery” may have added some detail to existing knowledge on the
subject, it’s hardly the revelation their reports–and the article–suggest."

U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan 6/13/2010 NYT: "The
United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits
in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to
fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself,
according to senior American government officials."

Why Afghans Dig Empire Graveyards 11/26/2009 Middle East Online: "A Dutch friend of mine tried to have a rational conversation with an American co-worker about 9/11 and the so-called “war on terror,” and was told, "You can't possibly understand. Your country has never been attacked like this."
The puzzled Dutch woman had to ask, "Did you never hear anything about the Second World War?"
Of course, it is precisely the far greater dangers that people in other countries have faced in the past that enable them to put the threat of terrorism in perspective. Paradoxically, it is the relative safety of the United States that makes Americans so vulnerable to panic and propaganda when faced with such a limited threat.
In fact, the response of the US government to the terrorist attacks has been exactly as Osama bin Laden and his colleagues intended. They did not expect to defeat the United States by knocking down a few buildings. Nor were they motivated by some irrational hatred of freedom.
Rather the attacks were designed to provoke a reaction that would expose the hypocrisy of the United States, laying bare the hard iron fist of militarism and violence within the soft velvet glove of Hollywood and soda-pop.
The explicit goal was to goad the American empire into using its vast arsenal of destructive weapons in ways that would gradually undermine its own economic and military power. Bin Laden and his second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri understood so much better than America’s deluded leaders that this would be a war the United States could not win."

Russia slams U.S. on Afghan drugs 11/19/2009 The Hindu: "The U.S. does not want to address the problem of drug production in Afghanistan, said Russia’s anti-narcotics chief after talks with U.S. Special Envoy for Af-Pak Richard Holbrooke.
“My meeting with Holbrooke unfortunately confirmed our fears that they are not prepared to destroy the production of drugs in Afghanistan,” Viktor Ivanov, head of the Federal Narcotics Control Service, told Russian journalists on Tuesday, hours after Mr. Holbrooke left Moscow for Kabul after one-day consultations."

Stealing Money, Selling Heroin and Raping Boys -- The Very Dark Side of the Afghan Occupation 11/13/2009 Alternet: "Corruption and mismanagement do not just mean that the police are on the take or that no contract is awarded without a bribe. It is much worse than that. For instance, one reason Afghan villagers prefer to deal with the Taliban rather than the government security forces is that the latter have a habit of seizing their sons at checkpoints and sodomizing them.
None of our business, Mr Fox, who may be British Defense Secretary by this time next year, would presumably say. We are not in Afghanistan for the good government of Afghans: 'Our troops are not fighting and dying in Afghanistan for Karzai's government nor should they ever be.' But the fact that male rape is common practice in the Afghan armed forces has, unfortunately, a great deal to do with the fate of British soldiers.
There was a horrified reaction across Britain last week when a 25-year old policeman called Gulbuddin working in a police station in the Nad Ali district of Helmand killed five British soldiers when he opened fire with a machine gun on them. But the reason he did so, according to Christina Lamb in The Sunday Times, citing two Afghans who knew Gulbuddin, was that he had been brutally beaten, sodomised and sexually molested by a senior Afghan officer whom he regarded as being protected by the British."

How the US army protects its trucks – by paying the Taliban 11/13/2009 Guardian: "It's a big part of their income," one of the top Afghan government security officials admits. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10% of the Pentagon's logistics contracts – hundreds of millions of dollars – consists of payments to insurgents."

Deadly attack on US base sends worrying signal 7/14/2008 AP: "An insurgent raid that penetrated an American outpost in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine soldiers, has deepened doubts about the U.S. military's effort to contain Islamic militants and keep locals on its side.
Moving in darkness before dawn Sunday, some 200 fighters surrounded the newly built base in a remote area near the Pakistan border without being spotted by the troops inside, said Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, the provincial police chief.
He said people in the adjacent village of Wanat aided the assault. About 20 local families left their homes in anticipation of the raid, while other tribesmen stayed behind "and helped the insurgents during the fight," Jangalbagh said."

Killing ourselves in Afghanistan 3/10/2008 Salon: "In a secret meeting with a Taliban commander, I learned how Bush administration aid to Pakistan helps fund insurgents who kill U.S. troops."

Narco Aggression: Russia accuses the U.S. military of involvement in drug trafficking out of Afghanistan 2/24/2008 Global Research: "The Vesti channel’s report from Afghanistan said that drugs from Afghanistan were hauled by American transport aircraft to the U.S. airbases Ganci in Kyrgyzstan and Incirlik in Turkey.
The Ganci Air Force base at the Manas international airport in Kyrgyzstan was set up in late 2001 as a staging post for military operations inside Afghanistan. The Kyrgyz government threatened to close the base after neighbouring Uzbekistan shut down a similar U.S. airbase on its territory in 2005, but relented after Washington agreed to make a one-off payment of $150 million in the form of an assistance package and to pay $15 million a year for the use of the base.
One of the best-informed Russian journalists on Central Asia, Arkady Dubnov, recently quoted anonymous Afghan sources as saying that “85 per cent of all drugs produced in southern and southeastern provinces are shipped abroad by U.S. aviation.”
A well-informed source in Afghanistan’s security services told the Russian journalist that the American military acquired drugs through local Afghan officials who dealt with field commanders in charge of drug production.
Writing in the Vremya Novostei daily, Dubnov claimed that the pro-Western administration of President Hamid Karzai, including his two brothers, Kajum Karzai and Akhmed Vali Karzai, are head-to-heels involved in the narcotics trade.
The article quoted a leading U.S. expert on Afghanistan, Barnett Rubin, as telling an anti-narcotics conference in Kabul last October that “drug dealers had infiltrated Afghani state structures to the extent where they could easily paralyse the work of the government if decision to arrest one of them was ever made.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke said in January that “government officials, including some with close ties to the presidency, are protecting the drug trade and profiting from it.”
In an article carried by Washington Post, the diplomat described the $1-billion-a-year U.S. counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan as “the single most ineffective programme in the history of American foreign policy.”
“It’s not just a waste of money. It actually strengthens the Taliban and Al Qaeda, as well as criminal elements within Afghanistan,” Holbrooke wrote in the The Washington Post in early January."

Britain fights to curb US Afghan onslaught 5/13/2007 London Times: owned by Ruper Murdoch - "BRITAIN will step up its presence in Afghanistan this week with the deployment of a high-profile new ambassador as concern mounts that the toll of civilians killed in the war is setting back the coalition’s efforts to win Afghan “hearts and minds”.
There is growing alarm over a wave of US bombing raids in which 110 civilians have died in the past two weeks. Twenty-one people were killed last week after US special forces called in airstrikes on the town of Sangin in Helmand province. “Sometimes you wonder whose side the Americans are on,” said a British official."

A catalogue of errors in Afghanistan 3/9/2007 Asia Times: "Also suggesting this connection are the successful efforts to share expertise across the two theaters, with Iraq war skills in suicide attacks and improvised explosive devices being brought to bear in Afghanistan, while the Afghans' well-honed skills in attacking helicopters are emerging as part of the Iraqi insurgents' toolkit."

Taliban repel British assault in south Afghanistan 12/5/2006 Reuters: "Afghan police and soldiers have so far held just the bridgehead and the short road at the north end of the valley, criss-crossed by networks of ancient canals that make Helmand fertile enough to produce a third of the world's opium crop."

Afghanistan war is 'cuckoo', says Blair's favourite general 10/29/2006 Guardian: "The decision by Guthrie, an experienced Whitehall insider and Blair confidant, to go public is likely to alarm Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence more than the recent public criticism by the current army chief Sir Richard Dannatt. 'Anyone who thought this was going to be a picnic in Afghanistan - anyone who had read any history, anyone who knew the Afghans, or had seen the terrain, anyone who had thought about the Taliban resurgence, anyone who understood what was going on across the border in Baluchistan and Waziristan [should have known] - to launch the British army in with the numbers there are, while we're still going on in Iraq is cuckoo,' Guthrie said."

War on Terror Returning to Its Cradle 10/4/2006 AntiWar: "But even as Musharraf sat down with Karzai for a peacemaking dinner hosted by Bush himself last Tuesday, an anonymous senior U.S. military officer was telling reporters in Kabul that cross-border attacks by Taliban forces had, in fact, tripled since the North Waziristan truce actually took effect in late June.
Several days later, the Washington Post reported on a captured al-Qaeda document that strongly suggested that at least part of the group's top leadership is in fact living in North Waziristan, bolstering claims that the truce had created, in Newsweek magazine's words, a "'Jihadistan' … an autonomous quasi-state of religious radicals, mostly belonging to Pashtun tribes," stretching from central Afghanistan to much of northwestern Pakistan."

Frist: Taliban should be in Afghan gov't 10/2/2006 AP: "U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government. The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield."

The Smack Brigades - How Opium Lost the Afghan War 4/23/2006 Sobaka: "In Iraq and in Afghanistan today there are the same temptations, and though the pay for the American soldier is better than ours was it is still not much by their country's standards. Addiction is not a Soviet disease. In an army, the only sign that I know of for sure that it is happening is that your enemy begins to shoot you with your own guns."

Taliban commander claims control of 26 Afghan districts 4/24/2004 Hi Pakistan: "The US and its allies, no doubt, control the skies, but they are vulnerable on the ground. That is why the American troops don’t travel often in vehicles and even disguise themselves to avoid harm," he contended.
Dadullah, who was named by Taliban supreme leader Mulla Muhammad Omar on a 10-member leadership council to organise resistance against the US forces in Afghanistan, maintained that the world was largely unaware of the ground realities due to the biased Western media.
"The world doesn’t know the amount of resistance that the Taliban have mounted against the US-led occupation forces. Our operations have intensified at the advent of summer and we are harassing the enemy even in Kabul. You would see an escalation in our attacks all over Afghanistan in the coming weeks," he declared."

Why catching bin Laden is difficult 3/18/2004 CSM: "We're kind of losing there," says a senior US official in Washington, with knowledge of intelligence operations. "I just think it's very, very difficult to do anything with 10,000 troops in some of the world's highest mountains in a place the size of Texas."
But American politicians and the media need to get realistic about what the CIA and other American operatives can do in Afghanistan, this senior official adds. "People who talk about blaming the intelligence services for not getting assets in that area don't know what they're talking about - it's like sending a white-skinned guy to penetrate an Indian reservation."

Taliban Release Footage Of Attack On Kunar Headquarters 12/23/2003 Jihad Unspun: "A Taliban sympathizer who delivered the tape said it was filmed recently in Kunar. It shows a night-time attack by about a dozen Taliban fighters on the Wattapur district headquarters building.
The Taliban take nine Afghan soldiers prisoners after capturing the rundown building and seize some light arms. They release the prisoners unharmed after the Taliban commander tells them their fight is with US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.
The commander also lectures them on the "jihad" being waged by the Taliban to liberate Afghanistan from "infidel" forces and enforce Shariah. An attack on a military convoy from a mountain peak overlooking a valley has also been filmed."

Taliban Take Control Of Zabul 12/18/2003 Jihad Unspun: "The deputy puppet governor of Zabul province, Maulwi Mohmmad Umar has admitted that the Karzai regime’s control only twenty percent of the province, while most of the rest of the country is under Taliban control. Speaking to reporters, he said that the Taliban control most cities and villages, while the Karzai regime only has power in only few districts such as Shah Jui, Sharah Safa and Kalat. He also said that one third of the provincial administration had resigned because they did not want to be targeted by Taliban when they eventually take over the entire province."

Call to double troop numbers in Afghanistan 12/1/2003 Financial Times: "Nato's credibility in Afghanistan could be jeopardised if it fails to provide more troops and military capabilities, Lord Robertson, the secretary general, will today tell the alliance's defence ministers… The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said last week the area of poppy cultivation jumped this year to 61,000 hectares, compared with 30,700 hectares last year and 1,685 hectares in 2001. Mr Vendrell said laboratories for producing heroin shut by the Taliban were being set up again in northern Afghanistan, providing the war lords with cash and weapons."

Taliban Use American Uniforms In New War Tactic 11/4/2003 Jihad Unspun: "In the outskirts of the capital city of Kabul, twelve Coalition soldiers have been killed due to an effective new war tactic being employed with the Taliban. The Taliban are wore American and coalition uniforms in this attack, which allowed them to get deep inside the coalition close camp. Some Taliban were martyred in the attack however the number is unknown at this time. After the attack, the Afghans soldiers expressed concern over this new tactic."

Kabul back as terror hot spot 6/30/2003 Pakistan Tribune: "A spate of attacks and an increase in intercepted electronic 'chatter' indicate that the Al-Qaeda network could be re-establishing its foothold there.
Intelligence officials said this communication buzz and tapes reportedly released by Mullah Mohammed Omar, former leader of the Taleban, suggest that Osama bin Laden has renewed his partnership with it. The Taleban have been regrouping in the far-flung areas of the country."

Caving In - Guess who's appeasing the Taliban now? 6/18/2003 The American Prospect: "Last week a Pakistani jihadi leader told the Asia Times that he had set up a meeting between U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials and Taliban leaders to discuss the seriously deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. At the meeting, held at a Pakistani air-force base, FBI officials floated the possibility that the Taliban might have a role in the future Afghan government on four conditions: that Mullah Omar be removed as leader, that foreign combatants engaged in fighting against U.S. and allied troops be deported, that any captive allied soldiers be released and that Afghans currently living abroad be brought into the government."

Mujahideen Wage More Operations Inside The Afghan Inferno 6/13/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Tuesday evening at about 9 pm, a convoy of three patrol vehicles of both the Afghan soldiers and the American forces enroute to Zarmat from Gardez was ambushed by unknown assailants. The vehicles were severely damaged due to the heavy fighting, but no casualties were confirmed. Later, American helicopters landed at the site and soldiers surrounded the area to prevent any reporters from confirming the reports about any casualties."

Security concerns grow after attack on Kabul peacekeepers 6/9/2003 CS Monitor: "Kabul's security took a serious downturn this weekend after a car-bomb attack killed four German peacekeepers on a busy Kabul street.
While attacks against US combat forces in southern Afghanistan have become more and more common, this is the first attack to have killed international peacekeepers in Kabul. And the fact that the attack occurred in the capital itself raises serious concerns about the growing confidence of Al Qaeda and other groups opposed to the US-backed Afghan government here."

Al Qaeda Suspected of Link to Afghan Blast-Germany 6/7/2003 Reuters: "A suspected suicide car bomber blew up a bus full of German soldiers in Kabul on Saturday, killing four, and German Defense Minister Peter Struck said there were indications the al Qaeda network was involved.
Struck told ZDF television he had received information from his Afghan counterpart Mohammed Fahim that the al Qaeda terror network may have been behind the worst attack on peacekeepers in Afghanistan that injured another 29 German soldiers."

Big Weapons Cache Found In Afghanistan 5/19/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Coalition forces in Afghanistan have found a huge cache of weapons. The U-S military says forces found enough weapons in the hidden cache to fill 80 trucks, whnt19.com report said. The weapons were found outside the southern city of Kandahar. In recent months there have been reports of deposed Taliban and their allies trying to regroup to destabilize the government of President Hamid Karzai."

No Light In The Afghan Tunnel 5/17/2003 Soldiers For The Truth: by "Col. David H. Hackworth, author of his new best-selling "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts," "Price of Honor" and "About Face," has seen duty or reported as a sailor, soldier and military correspondent in nearly a dozen wars and conflicts – from the end of World War II to the recent fights against international terrorism."

Taliban Operations Rage On With A Venegence 5/12/2003 Jihad Unspun: "In another event, Taliban Mujahideen assassinated a close friend of Hamid Karzai in the province of Rozgan. The deceased was identified as Molvi Abdullah, who was the local imam for the mosque. In yet another incident of the resurgence of the guerilla jihad promised by Taliban, unknown assailants stopped 3 vehicles belonging to the Afghan government and killed 3 of the Afghans who were working with the Americans."

Russia funding resurgent Taliban 5/11/2003 Scotsman: "RUSSIA is funding the Taliban’s guerrilla war against the American-backed government of Afghanistan, leaders of the fundamentalist group have claimed. In a move that carries echoes of attempts by the United States to undermine Soviet forces during their occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Russian intelligence is now providing covert backing to a resurgent Taliban, senior figures in the extreme Islamic movement have alleged. The alarming claim will prove acutely embarrassing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been trying to rebuild relations with the US in the wake of the acrimonious split between the two countries over Iraq. Engineer Hamidullah, the Taliban’s former deputy chief of finance, says the Taliban now receive as much funding as they did when Osama bin Laden bank-rolled them before September 11. There are some countries that are against the policies of the US and the United Nations, and they support the guerrillas. The most important role belongs to Russia, Iran and Pakistan," he said… Meanwhile, the Taliban has been mounting increasingly brazen attacks in Afghanistan. Last month its forces seized two remote districts near the Pakistan border and held them for nearly a week."

Shocking Account Of Torture, Murder Told By “Illegal Combatant” 5/8/2003 Jihad Unspun: "A plane flew us to Cuba one day. Our beard was cut off on our first day in Cuba. Our hands and feet were cuffed with heavy handcuffs and were caged in small cages with a load of two mounds on our backs. We were interrogated daily. The interpreters for interrogators in Cuba were Pakistanis. Some of these men were good and were frustrated to see our condition. Some of them also used to see us with poisoned eyes. In Cuba, torture, slapping and kicking during interrogation was a daily routine with FBI officials. One American official hit an Arab Mujahid while he was praying. After spending more than a year in Cuba, we were sent back to Shabarghan from where we were later on released.”
Ishaq told Daily Islam that initially he saw the Taliban’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Zaeef in of the torture cells in Cuba. “Americans had cut off his beard but he was not seen later on. A rumor also spread about his martyrdom but a fellow Mujahideen told that he was shifted to an aircraft for interrogation. Americans severely torture the arrested Arab Mujahideen and high profiled Taliban leaders.”
Ishaq also saw Mullah Fazal with his ears stuffed with cotton. “His eyes were blinded with glasses and he couldn’t see anything. A part of his skull was also cleared and covered in ice.”
“Offering prayers and reciting Holy Quran was prohibited in Cuba. But when we went on a hunger strike for 25 days, we were permitted to offer our prayers, a copy of the Holy Quran was provided as well as better food was given.” "

Rockets Rain Down On Spin Boldak, Five More Dead 5/5/2003 Jihad Unspun: "In Spin Boldak, several public offices were attacked with rockets last Tuesday morning and 5 were killed including 2 public officials. Located near Pak-Afghan border- Spin Boldak, commissioner of the city, Fazal Agha has accused Taliban for this attack. He said that the attack was carried at 4 am in the morning and the assailants were wearing Afghan soldiers’ uniforms.
They assailants attacked the intelligence bureau’s ammunition depot, the ministry of border affairs and the border security forces’ offices with rockets. Fazal Agha has claimed that some of the assailants then fled into Pakistan and talks are currently underway for their return. Pakistani forces have denied these allegations and Pakistani forces have also been on alert on the border area- Chaman- and have sealed the border."

Taliban Continue To Occupy Afghan District 4/30/2003 Jihad Unspun: "The Taliban are still occupying the subdivision of Dao Chopan in Zabul province. Government soldiers, who have support of American military, jets, tanks and helicopters are relentlessly trying to regain control of the district. A fierce battle is underway from both sides. During the last seven days, ever since Taliban have taken control of Dao Chopan, there have been fierce clashes three times. To date, reports of twelve Taliban martyred and seventeen others injured, while 12 Afghan soldiers have been killed and two Afghan as well as two Americans have been severely wounded."

Taliban Attack Kills Nine Afghan Militia 4/24/2003 Jihad Unspun: "According to Mujahid, the Taliban captured the district headquarters Wednesday morning after overcoming resistance from its defenders. He claimed Mohammad Nawab, the uloswal (district head) of Deh-i-Chopan, was seized along with his subordinates and bodyguards. He said the Taliban were holding the eight men at an undisclosed location." The Taliban is on schedule.

Afghan security deteriorates as Taliban regroup 4/23/2003 Jane's Intelligence Review, UK: "At the same time, the opposition has displayed greater aggressiveness both in attacking US Special Forces beyond their bases, and in concentrating larger numbers of fighters. The planting of mines on roads used by US patrols, which was begun last year, continues; but is now being reinforced with close-in ambushes. The Girishk ambush has been the only one to result in Coalition fatalities this year, but on 10 February a US patrol was attacked in the Baghran valley of upper Helmand province, by assailants using rocket propelled grenades and machine guns. Other ambushes have occurred near Asadabad in eastern Kunar and near Shkin, a well-known blackspot on the border of Paktika province with Pakistan." A respected UK defense source admitting what astute readers have known for months.

3 US Soldiers Injured 4/20/2003 Dawn, Pakistan: "Three American soldiers were injured when a United States military helicopter was struck by ground fire while on a reconnaissance flight in Balochistan on Friday, security officials told AFP. The incident occurred in the Loti mountains, 450km south of here on Friday evening, they said."

State Of Emergency Declared In Kabul 4/10/2003 Jihad Unspun: "A state of emergency has been declared in Afghan capital of Kabul by the German chief of the peace forces in the city. Undisclosed sources have revealed that the security was tightened when explosives were recovered from five oil tankers during a search in Kabul. Four men were arrested immediately. All the roads joining Kabul International airport and Kabul city have been blocked and check posts have been set up on important places. It is thought that the explosives were being brought to blow the important points in Kabul."

US 'mistake bombing' claims 11 Afghans 4/9/2003 News 24, South Africa: "Eleven Afghan civilians were killed early on Wednesday in a US bombing raid, the US military said, in the worst incident of its kind in Afghanistan since nearly 50 wedding guests were killed by US aircraft last June.
The seven women and four men were killed when their house was hit by a stray 450kg bomb in a raid against a group of unknown attackers in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan, a US military spokesperson said." More to be expected as the Taliban launches its offensive.

Taliban Reviving Structure in Afghanistan 4/7/2003 AP: "The manner of his death suggests the Taliban is not only determined to remain a force in this country, but is reorganizing and reviving its command structure.
There is little to stop them. The soldiers and police who were supposed to be the bedrock of a stable postwar Afghanistan have gone unpaid for months and are drifting away.
At a time when the United States is promising a reconstructed democratic postwar Iraq, many Afghans are remembering hearing similar promises not long ago.
Instead, what they see is thieving warlords, murder on the roads, and a resurgence of Taliban vigilantism."

Taliban Take Control Of Government Offices In Zabul 4/6/2003 Hi Pakistan: "The Taliban have taken control of the headquarters in Naubahar and Shinkai districts in the southwestern Zabul province in Afghanistan.
A Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Mukhtar Mujahid, told The News that their fighters evicted the Afghan government officials manning the Naubahar and Shinkai district headquarters on Sunday morning. "Armed Taliban fired in the air to force the government militiamen to vacate the Uloswali (district offices). They spared the lives of the government functionaries because the Taliban objective was to make their presence felt rather than harming fellow Afghans," he explained."

Ally of Karzai Gunned Down in Afghanistan 4/5/2003 AP: "A close ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was gunned down in southern Afghanistan in an attack provincial officials blamed on the Taliban Saturday.
Haji Gilani and his nephew were killed outside their home in the town of Deh Rawood on Thursday night, said Dad Mullah, a spokesman for the Uruzgan provincial government." Afghanistan, a model for Iraq.

Taliban claim capture of three police posts 4/4/2003 Hi Pakistan: "A famous Taliban commander claimed on Tuesday that his forces have taken control of three police check posts in Kandahar province along the Pak-Afghan border and talks were on with local pro-US commanders to surrender.
"Our mujahideen overran the Toro police and Alizo police posts near Spin Buldak while burning to ashes the US-run school in Loi Kariz in successful operations during the last two days," the Taliban commander Hafiz Abdur Rahim told The News on telephone." And the same will happen in Iraq.

Villagers Join Fight Against U.S., Afghan Forces 4/3/2003 Washington Post: "Villagers responding to a call to jihad, or holy war, have joined suspected Taliban fighters in a battle against Afghan soldiers and U.S. Special Forces troops south of here, near the city of Spin Boldak, a spokesman for the provincial governor said today."

Five FBI Agents Feared Dead 3/27/2003 Jiahd Unspun: "Five Americans are feared dead when some remnants of al-Qaeda and Taliban prompted a sudden attack on an office of the US Federal Bureau of Intelligence at Barmil, Pak-Afghan border. “The attackers used Rocket Launcher and automatic guns in the sudden attack prompted last night,” a highly placed source from across the border revealed to NNI correspondent here Wednesday. The informer further said that the office of FBI was established close to Check-post at Pakistan-Afghanistan border and the attack was so sudden that the border security guards comprising US-led coalition troops and Afghan officials did not retaliated."

500 Bodies Of Dead Soldiers Still In Jacobabad 3/25/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Around 500 dead bodies of American and British soldiers killed during military operation in Afghanistan after September 11 blitz have been lying in a morgue at Shebhaz Airbase in Jacobabad "

Afghanistan sees its first war protest 3/23/2003 AP: "There's been a rare display of public anger in Afghanistan over the war in Iraq.
About one-thousand people protested in eastern Afghanistan today. One military official says it was peaceful."

U.S. Soldiers on Al Qaeda Hunt Face Rocket Attacks 3/21/2003 Fox News: "Attackers fired 11 rockets toward a U.S. base in the eastern town of Orgun-E, near the Pakistani border, on Thursday, but none landed closer than 500 yards from the base, Col. Roger King said." Just like in Nam.

Wave of rocket attacks hits US forces in Afghanistan 3/21/2003 Yahoo: "Spokesman Colonel Roger King said Friday more than a dozen rockets were targeted at three separate US bases in what was the largest assault on US forces in almost five months.
The attacks came as up to 1,000 personnel continued a major air and ground offensive against al-Qaeda, code-named "Valiant Strike", in mountains near the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan."

US launches major al-Qaeda hunt 3/20/2003 BBC: "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi earlier this month.
He is suspected of being the mastermind behind the 11 September attacks, and is now in US custody.
Officials say Mohammed has been providing details to his interrogators and that subsequent arrests have taken place on a basis of this information." If indeed he was captured, which is not certain, he would have to be tortured severely to be giving this information, which is also not certain.

Action In Afghanistan, One US Soldier Killed 3/20/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Three explosions have occurred in Nangarahar province’s capital Jalalabad and Kandahar city. According to details, a remote controlled bomb exploded near the American base in Kandahar during which a military jeep was destroyed killing one soldier aboard."

15 Taliban Suspects Held For Blasts 3/19/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Akram said the building, in the upmarket Shaw-i-Naw area of the city, home to many international aid agencies, was used as a base to coordinate a wave of rocket attacks or explosions in city during the past six weeks, killing 20 people and injuring more than a dozen. “They would distribute bombs, make plans and assign people with duties, all under cover of an organisation to help reconstruct Afghanistan,” Akram said."

US Troops Move For Operations Against Afghan Resistance 3/19/2003 Jihad Unspun: "American military have transferred over 150 personnel and half a dozen helicopters after establishing a new military head quarter near Pak-Afghan border- Bairy Kot. The reason for the establishment of this HQ is mainly to start the search and arrest operations for Gul badin Hikmatyar, Al-Qaida and Taliban members."

Mujahedeen Intensified Their Operations In The Last Two Weeks 3/14/2003 Jihad Unspun: "According to Alneda latest report, Mujahedeen intensified their operations in the last couple of months so that Coalition troops and their Afghan allies became perplexed from the excessive attacks against them. On the other hand, the Mujahedeen perceive their operations as a routine especially with the wide support from the people who executed many successful operations on their own against the coalition soldiers."

Afghan prisoners beaten to death at US military interrogation base 3/7/2003 Guardian: "Two prisoners who died while being held for interrogation at the US military base in Afghanistan had apparently been beaten, according to a military pathologist's report. A criminal investigation is now under way into the deaths which have both been classified as homicides.
The deaths have led to calls for an inquiry into what interrogation techniques are being used at the base where it is believed the al-Qaida leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is now also being held. Former prisoners at the base claim that detainees are chained to the ceiling, shackled so tightly that the blood flow stops, kept naked and hooded and kicked to keep them awake for days on end."

Mujahideen Attack US Forces, Four Dead, Seven Captured 3/6/2003 Jihad Unspun: "In Khairkot, in the province of Paktika in Afghanistan, Mujahideen attacked American forces with rocket launchers, destroying one vehicle and killing all four passengers on board.
According to reliable sources from across the border, Mujahideen destroyed an American vehicle in Paktika province with rocket launchers. As a result, four American soldiers were killed on the spot. The sources went on to say that during the operation, Mujahideen also took seven American hostages from an aid vehicle and were transported to an unknown location. Several American raids have since followed to locate and to retrieve the captives and arrest the Mujahideen but until the latest reports, no arrests have been made."

Afghan Battle Leaves 15 Dead 2/26/2003 Jihad Unspun: "In Afghan province Arzagan, a battle between American & Afghan soldiers and Mujahideen has killed one American and two of their Afghan counter parts. 12 civilians died due to coalition bombing.
According to details, on Monday in Piran Kot area, during house to house search, a coalition troops were fired on from a house, which then turned into a battle. The exchange of fire killed three soldiers. Coalition planes reached the area and began a bombing. It is expect that 12 were killed, due to this bombing including women, children and elder."

All Feared Dead As Afghan Minister's Plane Crashes 2/25/2003 Jihad Unspun: "On board was Afghan Minister for Petroleum and Mines Juma Mohammad Mohammadi, who had held talks in Pakistan at the weekend on a multi-billion dollar pipeline project that would link Turkmenistan and Pakistan via Afghanistan.
Others included three other officials from the Afghan ministry and one from Kabul's foreign ministry and Sun Changsheng, chief executive of MCC Resource Development Co, a Chinese engineering firm, Khan said."

Plan To Divide Afghanistan Into Seven States Completed 2/24/2003 Dharb-I-Momin: "Meanwhile, Afghan military and political analysts while labeling this American plan a failure commented that prior to this, the British also tried to divide Afghanistan which failed. Analysts say that more than 65% of the Afghan population is Pushtoon which are against the division of Afghanistan. An Afghan historian and literate, Habib Ullah Rafi said in a statement to a foreign news agency, that this American- Russian plan will never reach completion. He said that those who are traitors to the nation as well as the country, will have a horrible place in history. Bear in mind, although this plan is emerging on the international media front, Hamid Karzai has opted to be silent on this issue."

Germany mulls Afghan pull-out 2/21/2003 BBC: "Germany has said it could withdraw its troops from Afghanistan if tensions escalate in the region as a result of a US-led war on Iraq… The 22-nation 4,800-strong force has maintained security in the Afghan capital since its deployment in December 2001 following the ousting of the Taleban regime by US-led forces."

Latest American Bombing In Afghanistan Yields High Civilian Casualties 2/17/2003 BBC: the vicious cycle spirals towards an inevitable Viet Nam style defeat for the US - "BBC Radio Pashto service has reported that in the village of Wilja in the Afghan province of Helmand, as many as a 100 civilians have been killed and more than a dozen have been injured during an American bombing operation."

Meet Mr. Blowback - Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, CIA Op and Homicidal Thug 2/14/2003 Counterpunch: "Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Pashtun warlord, former Afghan prime minister, fundamentalist religious fanatic, and homicidal thug, has been much in the news of late. The largest battle in Afghanistan in recent months, in the mountains near Spin Boldak on January 27, pitted US forces against guerrillas "most closely aligned with the Hezb-i Islami movement, which is Hekmatyar's military arm," according to US military spokesman Colonel Roger King (Daily Times, Pakistan, Feb. 10). The death of nine minibus passengers in an explosion near Kandahar January 31 was also attributed to Hezb-i-Islami. It's been widely alleged that Hekmatyar, who has been sighted in six Afghan provinces in the last three months, has linked up with Mullah Omar, remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda (Boston Globe, February 9). This is plausible, although one must note a history of sour relations between the Taliban and the warlord. Few articles in the mainstream press mention the far more substantial historical association: that between Hekmatyar and the CIA. During the 1980s he received fully 90% the CIA-supplied funds doled out via Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) to the Mujahadeen Islamic warriors (see Ahmed Rashid, Taliban [Yale University Press, 2000], p. 91). These funds amounted to some half-billion dollars per year throughout the 1980s, matched by equal sums from that other enthusiastic Mujahadeen patron, acting in close cooperation with the US: Saudi Arabia."

Afghan bombing raids 'hit civilians' 2/12/2003 CNN: "The announcement coincided with unconfirmed reports from provincial government officials saying that at least 17 civilians had died, most of them women and children, during U.S.-led bombing raids." Winning the hearts and minds, in preparation for Iraq.

Coalition warplanes bomb Afghan caves after ambush 2/12/2003 Sydney Morning Herald: "Coalition warplanes bombed caves in central Afghanistan after at least five heavily-armed extremists ambushed US Special Forces as they picked their way through a remote mountain valley, the US military said yesterday.
Colonel Roger King said the patrol was attacked at dawn yesterday by machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades from overhead ridges as it was exploring Bahgran valley in central Uruzgan province."

Mystery Afghan troops attack target outside US airbase 2/8/2003 Ummah News: "A press statement issued from Bagram, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Kabul, said around five Afghan men were seen directing mortar fire away from the base, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"A Bagram air base security post reported an estimated five local nationals carrying mortars at approximately 5:00 am (0030 GMT) this morning, north of the base," the statement said." Bagram was also a main Soviet base in the Afghan War of the 80's.

CIA Officer Killed, 2 Hurt in Afghanistan 2/6/2003 Newsday: "One CIA officer was killed and two others were injured in a training accident in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, agency officials said." So many accidents…

Robert Fisk: Don't mention the war in Afghanistan 2/5/2003 Independent, UK: "Hands up those who know that al-Qa'ida has a radio station operating inside Afghanistan which calls for a holy war against America? It's true. Hands up again anyone who can guess how many of the daily weapons caches discovered by US troops in the country have been brought into Afghanistan since America's "successful" war? Answer: up to 25 per cent.
Have any US troops retreated from their positions along the Afghan-Pakistan border? None, you may say. And you would be wrong. At least five positions, according to Pakistani sources on the other side of the frontier, only one of which has been admitted by US forces. On 11 December, US troops abandoned their military outpost at Lwara after nightly rocket attacks which destroyed several American military vehicles. Their Afghan allies were driven out only days later and al-Qa'ida fighters then stormed the US compound and burnt it to the ground."

In Wild Mountains, the Threat to G.I.'s Rises 2/2/2003 NYT: "The political setting includes a sprawling network of militancy in Pakistan which Pakistan's intelligence agencies have continued to support — lately, to the frustration of American officials.
Last week, Nancy Powell, the American ambassador to Pakistan, accused Pakistan of failing to break all ties with militants and called on the government to "end the use of Pakistan as a platform for terrorism."
Pakistani officials say they are doing all they can. But Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist, says the country's rulers still think they can control hard-line religious groups. "The army has played these groups against each other," he said. "They think they can buy them."
If American bombs rain down on Baghdad, that assumption may be put to the test."

Mujahideen Shoot Down American Helicopter 2/1/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Mujahideen shoot down an American helicopter near Bagram killing 10- 15 commandos on board. According to details, an American helicopters carrying American commandos was shot down on Thursday near South East of Kabul. According to eyewitnesses, the Black Hawk H 60 was on its flight 20 km away from Bagram airbase when it was targeted."

US Operation In Afghanistan Ineffective: Russian Official 2/1/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Manilov said Russia had provided the US and its allies with data on drug storage and production sites in Afghanistan, but without result. "Russia gave its Western partners, including the United States, information on bases where drugs are stored and places where they are produced. But the fact that the drug flows are not subsiding shows that many of the production facilities have not been destroyed," he said." Off the shelf financing, comrade.

Black Hawk Down In Afghanistan, Four Americans Dead 1/31/2003 Zafir Jamaal: "Mujahideen have escalated attacks in the past few weeks which has been widely reported in international press however no mention of these attacks or their casulaties have appeared in mainstream press in North America. Reporters in Afghanistan who attempted to reach the scene of the crash were turned back by Afghan security. U.S. military authorities at Bagram referred all questions to Central Command.
The Black Hawk is a utility transport aircraft designed to carry 11 combat-ready, air assault troops, and it is capable of moving a 105-millimeter howitzer, its crew of six and 30 rounds of ammunition. The UH-60 Black Hawk was introduced in 1978 and made its combat debut in the October 1983 invasion of Grenada. It performs a variety of missions, including air assault, air cavalry and aeromedical evacuations. In addition, modified Black Hawks operate as command and control, electronic warfare, and special operations aircraft." A debut in Grenada does not mean it cuts the mustard at 10,000 feet.

Explosion Destroys Afghan Bridge and Bus, Killing Eighteen 1/31/2003 Zafir Jamaal: "Taliban and Al-Qaida Mujahideen are attributed with the attack and it is believed that Afghan soldiers were the target of the explosion, which went off about a half a mile from an Afghan army post. Soldiers from that unit are loyal to Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai and routinely patrol the area. Eye witnesses said body parts lay on the ground around the bus, which was left a twisted and mangled hulk.
The explosion may also have involved guerrilla fighters loyal to Commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. A joint major offensive of Al-Qaida, Taliban and Hekmatyar’s men was underway last week and Mujahideen were able to infiltrate the city before they retreated to the mountains."

US To Taliban: How Did You Achieve Peace? 1/30/2003 Zafir Jamaal: "Yusuf, a madrassah teacher who teaches Holy Quran to young students, said that “one night a US interrogator after failing to extract any reasonable information about our high command and leadership asked me how is it that amid the lawlessness, looting, killings, rivalry, ethnic tensions and armed thugs in Afghanistan did the Taliban succeed to establish a robust government and unprecedented peace? My answer was simple. I told them it was due to our high confidence and esteem we reposed in Amir-ul Mu’mineen’s leadership,” He added “the Americans are badly perplexed over the situation and are finding pretexts to leave our country.”

Hundreds of US troops locked in fiercest Afghan battle for nearly a year 1/29/2003 Independent, UK: "Col King said at least 18 militants had been killed but there were no casualties from the US-led coalition forces. Asked how long the fighting would go on, the colonel replied: "I would be very, very hesitant to put a deadline. There is a lot of ground to cover. It's a relatively large area and it is rough terrain. It could take a considerable period of time."
There have been reports from United Nations officials that al-Qa'ida and Taliban fighters have set up mobile military training units near the Pakistan border. Other reports suggest that Hekmatyar is organising suicide squads. Matters are further complicated by the depth of anti-American and pro-Taliban sentiment across the border in Pakistan – including within the Pakistani security forces with whom the US is supposed to be jointly waging the "war on terror". "

Afghanistan Boils As Mujahideen Carry Out 22 Attacks In Last Ten Days 1/29/2003 Jihad Unspun: "A special report from the Afghan capital has revealed 22 attacks have been carried out against American troops in the last 10 days, many that have claimed lives of US marines and Afghan soldiers.
Sources say that as many as 11 US soldiers have been killed and 29 injured in attacks on allied forces in lawless Afghanistan. Americans have come under attack for the first time in Maza-i-Sharif where two were killed when unknown gunmen sprayed bullets on the US convoy. Three others were also injured in the attack. American forces were also caught in a surprise ambush as they were monitoring the UN-sponsored disarmament campaign in the north. Daily Islam reported quoting unconfirmed sources in Afghanistan that more than 900 US troops deployed to monitor the disarmament program in Jauzan, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul, Baghlan, Kunduz, Takhar and other provinces face continuious security threats from rebel warlords and local Mujahideen."

Three Afghan Mercenaries Shot Dead 1/28/2003 Balochistan Post: "Two Afghan soldiers and a civilian were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in a village near the Pakistan border, the US military said in a statement here on Monday."

Fierce fighting erupts in Afghanistan 1/28/2003 BBC: "Another US spokesman said the fighting forces were aligned to one of the Afghan leaders, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar… The fighting was triggered by a small gunbattle nearby between US Special Forces and armed attackers as the Americans and Afghan Government troops were working to clear a compound."

Interview With Afghan's Hekmatyar On Jihad Against U.S. 1/26/2003 Jihad Unspun: Hekmatyar was the CIA's main agent in the 80's, with the largest narcotrafficking network in Afghanistan. He has considerable skill and experience. "No organizational relationship exists between us and the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida. We think it is wrong to attribute the resistance in the Islamic countries and the opposition to the United States to the person of Osama bin Laden. American leaders made a mistake when they thought that killing bin Laden would end the resistance against their country because the resistance is just a reaction to the provocative, wrong and hostile policies of the United States against Islam. These policies have aroused the anger of the peoples."
"The Americans can kill hundreds of figures like Osama bin Laden, but they cannot extinguish the fire of the resistance. We declare our support for every movement that works for Islam, struggles for the restoration of independence and helps the oppressed and persecuted in their wars against the occupiers."

Afghan Man Killed in Firefight With U.S. 1/23/2003 Guardian: "U.S. bases across Afghanistan are frequent target of rockets and small-arms fire. Often, the unknown assailants launch their weapons and then disappear before U.S. forces can respond. The base at Bagram - home to some 8,000 troops - is no exception.
``I would say that we have at least get one incident once a month for probably last four or five months where we had been some type of small arms fired directed at the perimeter of the base,'' Col. Roger King said at Bagram."

Mujahideen Wage Multiple Attacks In Afghanistan, Eight Dead 1/20/2003 Jihad Unspun: "In the Kunnar area of Afghanistan, an American camp came under rocket attack in which four soldiers were killed and three wounded. After the attack, American army cordoned off the area, and started large-scale search operation with the help of helicopters and planes.
According to our special correspondent in Paktia, Mujahideen fired two rockets at an American helicopter but did not hit their target. However, after the attack American air force came into action and three B-52, 3 surveillance aircrafts and about 12 fighters appeared on the scene and dropped several bombs on rebel Commander Badshah Khan’s stronghold.
In the mean time, in Khost area an American patrolling party was attacked with remote control ammunition in which four soldiers died on the spot and three were severely wounded. Besides this other army vehicles were destroyed due to a bomb blast which was planted into a bicycle."

US Soldier Hurt In Afghanistan 1/18/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Another US soldier was shot in the leg during an attack on a patrol in western Afghanistan, a military spokesman Col. Roger King told reporters on Friday.
The Special Forces soldier was injured Thursday night when his reconnaissance team came under small arms fire 23 miles southeast of the town of Shindand."

Freed Taliban Say 600 Pakistanis Still In Shiberghan Jail 1/17/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Over 600 Pakistanis and some 500 Afghans are still languishing in the diabolic Shiberghan jail near Mazar Sharif, the Taliban prisoners freed by the Afghan government told newsmen at Boldak that borders Pakistan in the south west."

Five Killed In American Military Vehicle Explosion: Eye Witnesses 1/16/2003 Daily Islam: "According to news received from Kandahar, an American vehicle exploded on Tuesday after running over a land mine south west of the Kandahar Airport and all five American onboard the vehicle were killed instantly. Daily Islam learned that after the explosion of the vehicle, the Americans started a search operation, blocking the main roads and passages however no arrests have yet been reported."

Three US troops hurt in Afghanistan 1/16/2003 Ummah News: "Three U.S. soldiers were wounded in Afghanistan in two incidents and one of the men was in critical but stable condition, sources said on Thursday.
In a statement issued from Bagram Air Base just north of Kabul, U.S. forces also said B-52 heavy bombers were called in to provide close air support for a forward base in Asadabad, a town in the eastern province of Kunar.
It was not immediately clear if the B-52s had dropped any bombs. Two special forces soldiers were injured about 50 km northeast of the eastern city of alalabad on Wednesday morning when an explosive device went off under their vehicle."

Taliban Threaten Death For Those Trading With US Troops 1/15/2003 Jihad Unspun: "Fuel for U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan is transported from Pakistan because of U.S. reluctance to use Iranian oil and other goods since the hostage crisis in Tehran in 1979. "We want to make it abundantly clear that we have made all the arrangements to torch tankers and vehicles," the pamphlet said. It also claimed the group has already set two oil tankers ablaze.
The pamphlet said the drivers and assistants of the two oil tankers managed to escape, but in future they will be "punished with death."

Pamphlet Declares New Anti-US Afghan Army 1/14/2003 Jihad Unspun: "A new group calling itself a secret mujahideen force has claimed responsibility for 50 raids on US forces and its allies in Afghanistan, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on Sunday.
The claim appeared in Pushtu language pamphlets circulated in Peshawar late Saturday. The leaflet was distributed in the name of the “Secret Army of Muslim Mujahideen” but does not disclose either the nationalities of its members or its operational base, AIP said. The pamphlet claims responsibility for attacks including a bomb explosion near the US embassy in Kabul, rocket attacks on ISAF headquarters and the ambush of US soldiers in Jalalabad."

Latest Al Qaeda recruits: Afghans seeking revenge 1/13/2003 CSM: "Haji Din Mohammad's family has been marked by two tragic acts. The first was an American bombing raid in December 2001 that killed his nephew Zeni Khel in a local mosque. The second was the murder of an American CIA agent a month later by another nephew in an act of revenge.
It's this eye-for-an-eye code of Mr. Mohammad's Pashtun ethnic group that Al Qaeda and its allies are exploiting to create new suicide squads in Afghanistan, say Afghan intelligence officials. They are drawing recruits from families who have suffered losses in the past year of war. With motives and methods copied from Palestinian suicide bombers, the young men pose the newest, and perhaps gravest, threat to the young government, to American aid workers, and to US troops."

Mujahideen Land Mines Take Out Two US Military Vehicles, 8 Dead 1/7/2003 Jihad Unspun: 'Two US military vehicles have been destroyed in Afghanistan’s southern province of Paktika, by land mines laid by Mujahideen. It is believed that eight US soldiers who were in the cars have been killed and one US soldier severely injured. The injured soldier was transferred to the Bagram air base for treatment.
According to the details received form across the border, the US soldiers were on a search mission looking for Al Qaida and Taliban in Dana, Paktika on Sunday when the two vehicles hit the mines, exploding upon impact. The eye witnesses told of deep craters at the blast site and said “there is almost no chance that anybody had survived the blast.”

Five Coalition Soldiers Killed In Eastern Afghanistan 1/5/2003 Jihad Unspun: "At least five troops of the US-led coalition force feared dead and unknown assailants also left a message in a local language "result of atrocities against Muslims".
The incident took place at Asadabad, Kunar province of Afghanistan on Friday when a combined team of the foreigners and Afghan troops was on a regular patrol in the vicinity. "The killed also include an American troop and four others, nationality to be determined yet," an eyewitness revealed from across the border of Pakistan… These attacks are gaining momentum since Dec 29 following an the clash between the US and Pakistani troops at Angoor Anda, Wana-South Waziristan. At the official level, the US side had confirmed that an American is injured in that clash. However, Pakistan at the official level did not issue the details and pledged to give the details after completing investigation at the military level."

Project: Afghanistan 1/5/2003 Uranium Medical Research Centre: "The UMRC field team was shocked by the breadth of public health impacts coincident with the bombing. Without exception, at every bombsite investigated, people are ill. A significant portion of the civilian population presents symptoms consistent with internal contamination by Uranium." - tax-deductible funds needed for further analysis.

Taliban claims to have chemical weapons and US POWs 1/4/2003 Ummah News: "Rohi claimed that Hekmatyar's forces have captured as many as 50 US soldiers on way to Kabul from Logar while the Taliban fighters captured another 26 US special forces personnel during the Shai Kot fighting, which was code-named as "Operation Anaconda". "We will bring them before the press after the approval of the top leadership," he said.
However, Pakistani intelligence officials did not agree with the number of missing US soldiers saying that news about 10 to 15 missing US soldiers was in circulation since long. "I believe that the operation in Kunar province of Afghanistan last month was aimed at finding clues to the whereabouts of the missing Americans," an official of the secret agencies said."

Afghanistan: US forces storm mosque, beat and abduct worshippers 1/2/2003 Ummah News: "American forces stormed a mosque in the Khost province in southeast Afghanistan, beat the worshippers and abducted two of them, said the Pakistani NNT news network Thursday, January 2.
The American soldiers desecrated the mosque with their shoes, smashed the doors and windows infuriating the residents, said the agency.
Meanwhile, the Iranian news agency, IRNA, and the Voice of America correspondent that anti-American leaflets were circulated on Tuesday and Thursday, December 30-31, in the nearby Paktia province.
The leaflets lashed out at the American military presence in Afghanistan and threatened new attacks on the American troops."